Human Rights
Counc il Forum on
Minority Fifth
Session
Copts
Thanks Madam Chair
Persec ution of Copts, the Christians of Egypt is systemic and organized for about 4 dec ades.
After the revolution of last year Copts bec ame optimistic , sadly it did not last long. However
The positive thing here, Copts started to seek their rights.
Persec ution of Copts in Egypt is in every way of life from having to hide yourself and live in
fear if you c onvert from Islam to Christianity to diffic ulty in getting senior jobs if you are
Christian, from hate and vic timization statement from a loud speaker in a Friday prayer to
books and tapes hating Christians sold on pavements to outright attac k on a village whole
Christian c ommunity, burning their home and business and expelling them out the village, in
2012 this happened twic e.
In the village of Amrya near Alexandria early this year and in dahshoor near Cairo in the June,
120 Coptic family not only lost livelihood but also expelled out of the village to return weeks
later to the ashes of their home to get 120 pounds government c ompensation for the millions
they lost and the fear they suffer as the polic e as in all similar c ases c onduc ts c osmetic
investigation then forc e unfair and humiliating rec onc iliation 'session and as always no
perpetrator of violenc e taken to c ourt and no justic e, a situation nearly 4 dec ades old.
Last week the ex-attorney general Abdel Migeed Mahmood job was terminated, he said
that polic e never referred a single c ase of attac k on Christians in the whole 6 years he
was in post.
The state of impunity offered by government to militant Islamists c annot go on. The world
c ommunity c annot stand idle by and Mr. Bankimmon said yesterday Human Right Counc il has
a c ruc ial role to play.
2012 also witness the final outc ome of the notorious Maspero demonstration run over by
armored vehic les, this gruesome massac re only 3 young c onsc ripts sentenc ed to 2 -3 years
eac h, no senior offic er questioned.
2012 saw Abuqumas Kangaroo c ourt where 12 innoc ent Christians Lawyers Alaa Reda
Roushes and 5 others given life sentenc e and 6 given 15 years for c rimes they did not
c ommit, the verdic t is final as the c ourt was emergenc y.